PINE? for firewood?

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injun joe

injun joe

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well i was just curious does the pine you guys are talking about have pitch inside? i know we dont burn it as our primary wood but as kindling or just s a small fire because that pitch on the inside burns ''dirty''. we will sell it but we never burn more that a half cord.
 
RuralCruiser007

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well i was just curious does the pine you guys are talking about have pitch inside? i know we dont burn it as our primary wood but as kindling or just s a small fire because that pitch on the inside burns ''dirty''. we will sell it but we never burn more that a half cord.

The pitch inside will sure give off a lot of "black" smoke. It sure is like it is super concentrated sap that just sits there. I find that the trees that twin off of one root sure build it up. The "pitch" wood make excellent fire starter though.
 
Brushwacker

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I am not against burning pine. My experiance in my fireplace was (I have a woodstove insert now) I definitely had more creosote, enough where I had an unsuspected chimney fire that got hot enough to put cracks in the chimney lining. Hardwoods give me little creosote but I and other woodburners I know have gotten enough creosote from hardwood at times to be a problem also. Keeping the chimney from cooling down and the fire from smoldering seem to be the biggest elements affecting creosote build up. Since I learned that the bottom 3/4 ths of the chimney get little to no build up almost all the time with the top 1/4 usually has a minor coat of creosote , I assume from the cooler temperature at the top.
As far as using pine , I don't use much and when I do I put it in when I believe the chimney and fire is hot. I do have a fondness for the smell of pine wood coming from the chimney. If I was using it a lot I would check the chimney more often. If I had an outdoor wood burner with the short straight chimney I'd not think twice about loading it up with pine as its easy to maintain and wouldn't cause a problem in the house if it did plug.
 
avalancher

avalancher

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Gotta agree with everyone else on the matter, there is nothing wrong with pine!
My wife loves it, lights quick and the house is warm in 20 minutes with an arm load of pine.
I sweep my chimney every year now, and havent noticed any creasote at the top at all, mostly I sweep as a precaution.
The great thing about pine around here, everyone dumps the pine in favor of the white and red oak that is plentiful around here. I occasionally swing by the burn pit run by the county, and there are tons of pine sitting around, and lots of sawdust where someone else beat me to the oak. I load the trailer until pieces are falling out and drive home without even being aware that the trailer is attached. I could split pine all day long and not even be tired.
I never turn down pine!Smells great burning too!
 
JONSEREDFAN6069

JONSEREDFAN6069

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pine is my main wood, burn a little elm birch and maple but over 3/4 of it is pine and i have no problem's. started burning in october and will burn till may. checked the chimney this past sunday an it look's as good as new inside so pine as long as it's dry burns just as clean as any hardwood in my opinion.
 
redprospector

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well i was just curious does the pine you guys are talking about have pitch inside? i know we dont burn it as our primary wood but as kindling or just s a small fire because that pitch on the inside burns ''dirty''. we will sell it but we never burn more that a half cord.

You've got to watch out for those log's that are heavy with pitch. Around here we call that "rocket fuel", it's like throwing a cup of kerosine in the stove but it burns longer than kerosine. It work's great in small amounts for starting a fire, you can light it with a match.
Most of the pine around here (Ponderosa) dosen't have much pitch.

Andy
 
MR4WD

MR4WD

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You've got to burn pine hot. It's almost contradiction, since it's nice to burn harder longer lasting woods when it's cold, but now that it's well below freezing I try and burn pine when I'm home.

If you burn pine slow and cool, it can be a problem in terms of creosote. I burn 3/4 of my yearly 6-8 cords in pine.
 
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